by Michah McCartney at Taiwan News
President Mario Benitez of COVID-wracked Paraguay has publicly rebuffed China’s attempts to bribe his country into abandoning Taiwan in exchange for Chinese vaccines.
Paraguay, which has seen a spike in coronavirus cases over the past two months, has desperately been seeking to secure vaccines as potential deals with Russia and COVAX have failed to bear fruit.
Benitez on Tuesday (April 20) spoke to the press on the status of the vaccines the country desperately needs.
“We have no problem buying from anywhere. Now, we’re not going to accept any kind of blackmail for vaccine purchases,” he pointed out. “We ask and are open to having direct dealings with factories in China without any type of conditions involving our diplomatic relations.”
China denies that it has attempted to lure the country with its vaccines.
However, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) cited their Paraguayan counterpart as complaining that China had used its jabs as leverage to pressure the Latin American country to drop its ties with Taiwan. The vaccine shortage led to calls from some quarters in Asuncion to drop Taipei in favor of Beijing.
Last week, Paraguay-based soccer federation Conmebol announced Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac had promised it 50,000 doses.
Paraguay is one of Taiwan’s 15 remaining diplomatic allies. Seven have been poached by China since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2016.
MOFA Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs head Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) said Wednesday (April 21) that Taiwan-Paraguay relations are stable following the arrangement of vaccine shipments. Yui further stated that his country would provide its allies with Taiwan-developed vaccines, which are expected to roll out by July after domestic demand is met.
Taipei has helped Asuncion procure 2 million doses of India’s COVAXIN vaccine, with a batch of 100,000 already shipped. Benitez told the media that another 100,000 is expected early next week and that the Pan American Health Organization has confirmed another 134,000 vaccines will arrive on April 26.
Benitez said he is optimistic about the number of vaccines his country is set to receive and…
Continue Reading